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Private individuals will journey to the moon and back in 2018

28 February 2017

SpaceX announced it will be flying two private individuals on a trip around the moon late next year, they have already paid a significant deposit.

The passengers will be flown on the Dragon spacecraft, which already has a long flight history and been designed to carry humans. The plan is for the spacecraft to circumnavigate the moon and return to Earth. Lift-off will be from Kennedy Space Centre’s Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral (the same launch pad used by the Apollo program).

This presents an amazing opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years! SpaceX claims they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them and is an important milestone on the journey towards transporting humans to Mars.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has provided most of the funding for the Dragon 2 development, a key enabler for this moon mission.

SpaceX will be conducting health and fitness tests as well as initial training with the passengers at the end of this year. Further information will be released about the flight teams upon their approval and confirmation of health and fitness.